Servers are built for flexibility by providing for the addition and removal of electronic components depending on the particular requirements of the servers. Such removable electronic components include, for example, one or more fans, one or more power supply units (PSUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more memories, etc.
Currently, some of the electronic components within a server can communicate with one or more controllers of the server. These electronic components can be referred to as active electronic components and include, for example, PSUs, GPUs, and memories. In contrast, some of the electronic components within a server cannot communicate with the one or more controllers. These electronic components can be referred to as passive electronic components and include, for example, fans.
One solution for allowing passive electronic components to communicate with one or more controllers is modifying the existing connector interfaces, both on the components themselves, and on the circuit boards to which they connect, so as to be communicative with a controller.
FIG. 1 shows of a server 100 configured so that all of the electronic components can communicate with a controller. However, the configuration of the server 100 includes several drawbacks. The server 100 consists of a chassis 102 having a circuit board 104, such as a motherboard or other main board, disposed therein. The chassis 102 also includes components 106 and 108 insertable into one or more slots (not shown) within the chassis 102. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the components 106 correspond to passive electronic components, such as one or more fans or fan trays, including one or more fans. The components 108 correspond to active electronic components, such as one or more PSUs. However, the components 106 and 108 can be any type of removable electronic components that can be added to the chassis 102, such as any type of field-replaceable unit (FRU) or hot-swappable unit.
The components 106 and 108 can be electrically connected to the circuit board 104 via connectors 110 and 112, which include for example, a male connector 110a, 112a on the components 106 and 108, and a female connector 110b, 112b on the circuit board 104. The connectors 110 and 112 allow the components 106, 108 to be communicatively connected to a controller 114 and other components disposed on the circuit board 104.
While conventional connectors (e.g., the connectors 112) for active components 108 already include additional pin connections for the communication of signals between the active electronic components 108 and the controller 114, conventional connectors (e.g., the connectors 110) for the passive components 106 do not include the additional pin connections. Conventional passive electronic components also typically do not have the required printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) for connecting to the controller 114. Thus, the connectors 110 of FIG. 1 have been modified relative to conventional connectors for passive components, to include additional pins to allow for the communication of signals between the components 106 and the controller 114 for management and control of the components 106 by the controller 114. However, modification of the connectors 110 requires additional space on the circuit board 104 and additional space within the chassis 102, which could otherwise be used with other additional components. The consumed space and addition of wires for the modified connectors also restrict airflow within the server 100. Further, the additional pins make the components 106 not backwards compatible with current connectors on current circuit boards. Thus, the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 has drawbacks despite the ability for the controller 114 to communicatively connect to the passive electronic components.
FIG. 1 also illustrates an asset identification component 116 that can be inserted into the server 100 (e.g., inserted into the chassis 102). The asset identification component 116 allows for the manual identification of assets (e.g., components, such as the electronic components 106 and 108, controllers, memories, modules, and other units) within the server 100. However, as illustrated by the X in FIG. 1, the controller 114 is not communicatively connected to the asset identification component 116. Rather, the asset identification component 116 is present merely for an operator to optically scan a bar code, two-dimensional code, or other type of visible indicia associated with a scheme for identifying the assets within the server 100. The manual process of scanning the codes is inefficient, and the codes themselves are fixed and cannot be dynamically changed. The scheme of the codes also limits the amount of information that can be stored on the asset identification component 116. Thus, the asset identification component arrangement in FIG. 1 has drawbacks on flexibility and the amount of information that can be readily accessed concerning setup of the server.
Accordingly, there is a need for apparatuses and methods that overcome the foregoing drawbacks.